Author: Carey, Mathew
Biography:
Carey, Mathew (1760-1839: ANBO)
An influential polemicist and political economist whom ANBO describes as "the leading book publisher in America in the formative years of that industry," Mathew Carey was born in Dublin, one of the six sons of a baker, Christopher Carey, and Mary (Sherridan) Carey. To avoid imprisonment for his early forays into journalism, he spent a year in Paris, where he worked as a printer for Benjamin Franklin. He had not been back in Ireland long before he was forced again to flee prosecution for libel and sailed to Philadelphia. Starting with a loan from Lafayette, he established the Pennsylvania Herald, the first of a succession of politically engaged newspapers and magazines. He was also active in professional and social causes, a founder of societies and organizations. His publishing business became increasingly successful. In 1791 he married Bridget Flahavan; they had nine children, one of whom, Henry Charles Carey, took over the business when Carey retired in 1822. After retirement, his career as a writer took off in earnest, with a flood of pamphlets on practical social and economic issues. (ODNB mistakenly attributes to him pseudonymous works by O'Pindar which were actually written by his brother William, q.v.) (ANBO and ODNB 19 Feb. 2018)